Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.

Candy

Renee

Rosy

Molly

Emily

Shannon

moi

Grace

Mrs. N

Matthew Stuckey

Prayer of Those Suffering Miscarriage

My Lord, the baby is dead!
Why, my Lord—dare I ask why? It will not hear the whisper of the wind or see the beauty of its parents’ face—it will not see the beauty of Your creation or the flame of a sunrise. Why, my Lord?

“Why, My child—do you ask ‘why’? Well, I will tell you why.
You see, the child lives. Instead of the wind he hears the sound of angels singing before My throne.
Instead of the beauty that passes he sees everlasting Beauty—he sees My face.
He was created and lived a short time so the image of his parents imprinted on his face may stand before Me as their personal intercessor.
He knows secrets of heaven unknown to men on earth. He laughs with a special joy that only the innocent possess.

My ways are not the ways of man. I create for My Kingdom and each creature fills a place in that Kingdom that could not be filled by another.
He was created for My joy and his parents’ merits. He has never seen pain or sin. He has never felt hunger or pain. I breathed a soul into a seed, made it grow and called it forth.”

I am humbled before you, my Lord, for questioning Your wisdom, goodness, and love. I speak as a fool—forgive me. I acknowledge Your sovereign rights over life and death. I thank You for the life that began for so short a time to enjoy so long an Eternity. -- Mother M. Angelica

Today is the Feast of All Soul's Day in the Catholic Church. It's one of only 2 days when priests are obligated to say three Masses - the other one's Christmas - meaning you should probably show up even though it is not a HDO and you just went yesterday.

My Baptist/Non-Denominational/But Definitely Not Charismatic, aka "Generic Christian" husband just doesn't get most Catholic holidays, but this one in particular flummoxes him. Today we go to Mass to pray for the dead. Not in a Witch of Endor divination kind of way, but in a "Go Team Go" kind of way. We're not looking for lotto numbers or the name of our future mate, we're asking God to have mercy on them.

See, Catholics believe in an immortal soul. They believe that when someone dies, just because they are separated from their body does not mean they have no idea what's going on down here on earth with the rest of us mortals. Scripture tells us that the angels in Heaven rejoice when even one sinner repents... Catholics believe the Saints in Heaven are rejoicing too, especially the souls of that sinner's family and friends, who knew and loved him on Earth. This is why Catholics pray to the Saints - we ask them to pray for us, just like we would ask our neighbor or parishioner to pray for us. Except they pray for us literally in front of the throne of God.

We pray today for the dead in Purgatory. Purgatory is another Catholic doctrine that Luther wasn't too fond of and got rid of when he decided to invent his brand of cafeteria Catholicism.Basically, Catholics believe that sin marks your soul. Makes it look like the undercarriage of your car after a jaunty 4-wheeling adventure. (Catholics also believe that Baptism leaves an indelible character on your soul, forever marking you as belonging to His Church). We don't believe that we are a dung heap covered with a blanket of snow, as it were. If that were the case, well, there'd be a lot of cr** in Heaven, covered or not, which doesn't make much sense because we know that everything in Heaven is perfect - not just masked by a quick spray of Febreze, as it were. Catholics believe that Christ actually forgives and forgets, and the marks caused by sin are actually removed. Our souls, in Heaven, are actually snow white through and through, not just a thin layer.

Often, sin has a great impact both externally and internally. We have do penance and make reparation in order to actually get all the grubbies off our soul. We can ask for forgiveness and receive it, but if you've ever been a teacher, you know that sometimes there's residue left over even after erasing. Purgatory is the stopover to perfect our souls before we are admitted to the Beatific Vision. Kinda like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz got his hair curled and beribboned before getting an audience with the big Kahuna. Purgatory is not a second chance - if you die condemned, then, well, you're condemned, and we all know where that leads. Straight down.

Catholics also believe that no man is an island... we're all in this together. Just as St. Paul beat his flesh and suffered to make up what was lacking in the body of Christ, His Church, our suffering isn't wasted. We can offer it up in place of the penance and purgation (hence the word, Purgatory) our brothers and sisters in Christ should suffer. We can help a brother out.

And nothing helps out the suffering souls like a Mass offered on their behalf. So go to church today. If you can't make it, at least take the example of the children of Fatima, and do some small penance. If you don't have a hair shirt, put a rock in your shoe. If you can't go on bread and water all day, skip meat at one meal or pass over dessert. For a real penance, make brownies and give them all away. And don't forget to offer it up!

DISCLAIMER: This is not an exhaustive theological dissertation. But I can give you links for some if you're interested, or just follow the linkies in my little essay for a good start straight from the horse's mouth.